The three oldest whiskies from Glenglassaugh are aged 48, 49 and 51 years old. Beautifully presented in driftwood boxes with capsules crafted from their namesake marble, they are beautiful whiskies and sure to become sought after collectors’ items as Brown Forman continues to promote its single malt brands on the world stage. For me however, it is the creation of Sandend’s accessible luxury where Barrie’s mastery of the market really shines.
Master Blender At Brown Forman
The week before I met her Barrie had been in Singapore for the international launch of Glenglassaugh’s three oldest whiskies. These whiskies are the latest jewelles in the crown of her seven years at Brown Foreman, where she manages Glenglassaugh, Benriach and newly rebranded The Glendronach.
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To a casual consumer it may look like taking on a trio of established distilleries with warehouses of maturing stock would make life easy. In the competitive world of single malt whisky it is not enough to assume that creating good whisky will make you successful. A quick look over Barrie’s LinkedIn profile shows she’s traveling constantly and promoting both herself and her whiskies extensively.
The Serpentine Coastal Collection
Barrie considers herself both guardian and sculptor of the whiskies she manages. “It’s being a guardian, partly, of the decisions made in the past, but then I can also rerack those casks today; I take small samples of the casks—as small as possible, of course, as it’s very valuable—and decide is it ready? or is this a little bit too much of that? And would it be better in another type of cask? And so that’s the influence that I have, it’s more like a sculptor of the path.”
The 51 year old has been treated to finishing in an Oloroso Puncheon and I get a wonderful hit of summer strawberries as a result. As I searched my palette for ways to describe what I was tasting, I was struck with a familiar discord that comes when I really think about tasting notes, and remind myself to also savor the experience.
An Aside On Mark Littler And Tasting Notes
You will notice if you read, watch or consume any of my content, that I tend to steer away from tasting notes. That’s because tasting whisky is not my expertise.
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Long before I discovered the world of whisky my background was in fine art. Against that backdrop I have always been slightly perplexed by the whisky world’s need to share hyper-detailed tasting notes.
I know most whisky drinkers seem to disagree, but for me, enjoying a whisky is personal and inherently subjective. Trying to analyze why I am enjoying a whisky is as alien as trying to exactly describe the color of Christ’s robe on Carravaggio’s ‘The Calling of Saint Matthew’; it just doesn’t matter if you see it as sienna or garnet, what resonates is the experience created by the whole.
This was true of the three oldest Glenglassaugh; rather than being a combination of single tastes and flavors, the experience was more than the sum of its parts. This inability to effectively put what I’m tasting into words that make sense to anyone else is why I leave the tasting notes to the experts!
Memories Of The Coast
The Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection is clearly a premium product. The Glenglassaugh’s beautiful new bottle style has been taken to a different level with screen printing and at least an inch of crystal glass adding a comfortable weightiness to the decanter. Finished with a stopper made from Serpentine marble and encased in a naturally colored box made from driftwood that also echoes the ripples of sand and light through the ocean that has inspired the glass design.
It is arguably as engineered as the Macallan Horizon, but unlike the Horizon, the Serpentine collection is all about establishing exactly who Glenglassaugh are. Every beautiful aspect of it drills home their hyper marketed “coastal malt” message, no doubt inspired by the success and popularity of some Islay distilleries’ distinctive coastal flavors. And Glenglassaugh whisky is coastal; there are salted notes, sweet caramel and tropical flavors that Barrie says reminds her of pineapple floats on the beach. But it is also a theme crafted for premiumisation.
Premiumisation is the way of the industry, and Barrie doesn’t shy away from it. “Everyone loves luxury; people will pay a little bit extra for something that means something to them, that they connect with.”
But the aim with Glenglassaugh appears to be a balanced approach. “The direction of travel is clearly premiumisation. If you look at the market as a whole, volumes are down, but the value is going up,” Barrie explained, alluding to the 2024 figures from the Scotch Whisky Association on global export volumes and values. “Luxury is always going to be there and a few people will aspire to it, but at Glenglassaugh there’s always going to be something in the brand that is a little bit more accessible. It’s still something that’s going to be nurtured and it represents a kind of accessible luxury.”
Accessible, Award Winning Single Malt
Having sampled the older age statements already I can taste the difference between them and Sandend. Sandend is a small marvel for what it has achieved for its price point, but it also shines a spotlight on the complexity born of a generation quietly maturing in wood. It also showcases the careful balancing act Barrie has done with her choice of finishing casks. I also think that Sandend is incredible for what it represents; a no age statement whisky that is accessibly priced and yet beat many more expensive whiskies to win the Whisky Advocate 2023 Whisky Of The Year.
Yes, distilleries and brands need older age statement premium single malts, but they also need accessible and great tasting whisky to win the hearts and palettes of the people who support the bulk of the market.
In Sandend we get to see fully what Barrie is capable of creating when she is not beholden to age statements. It is something she has been working on for her seven years at Brown Forman, and that’s between nurturing Grow, the Brown Forman initiative for women in the industry and also building the whiskies for her other distilleries under management: Benriach and Glendronach. And yes, the 48 year old was up there with the best whisky I’ve ever tasted, but I know which one I’ve gone out and bought… and that is the point of accessible luxury.
This article is adapted from one originally written for Forbes.com
